This Week In Houseplants...

Last week was light, now let's talk soil

I have no objection to all the fancy houseplant soils that are available to buy. They’re fun! However, there are two things that I wish everyone knew when it comes to buying soil for your houseplants:

1. The substrate you buy will be nothing like the plant’s natural substrate. The people developing the soil will be making something that suits the plant as it lives in THEIR conditions. Alocasia, for example, naturally live next too (and sometimes in) rivers. Alocasia soil that you can buy in shops tends to be VERY free draining. 🤷‍♀️

   

2. Plants dgaf what substrate they’re in, as long as they can get water and nutrients in the right amounts.

A lot of houseplant noobs are told by well-meaning garden centre assistants that a plant developed especially for Monstera is the best choice for a Monstera. Makes sense!

EXCEPT

They’re new to plant care! They need a soil that suits THEM, not the Monstera.

What if they put the Monstera in a really hot spot, and it dries out every couple of days but they don’t water because they were told once a week is too often?

What if they get taken in by all the low light propaganda over on Pinterest and they put it on a bookcase in a dark hallway and it rots in a month or two?

90% of the time, where you put your plant will influence the substrate it’s in more than the species of plant.

Oh, and how often you water.

If you water weekly regardless of whether your plant needs it or not, you need a very chunky soil mix. If you forget to water for months on end, then get yourself something DENSE (add leca for aeration).

I do object a bit to soil companies that have a philodendron mix, an alocasia mix, a syngonium, a Monstera mix etc etc etc, because whilst I’m 100% sure the mixes are tailored to each plant, it really, REALLY doesn’t make a significant difference to the plant’s health.

Mixing your own soil can be so overwhelming (and pricy!) when you’re first getting into plants. I PROMISE that if you just buy a bag of cheap houseplant potting mix and some leca or orchid bark, you can tailor yourself something that will work for you and your plants.

And don’t listen to the people that scaremonger about using outdoor soil for indoor plants. You can absolutely buy soil for outside plants and use it on houseplants BUT bear these two things in mind:

1. Soil meant for outdoor plants holds WAY more water than houseplant soil. I would recommend chunking it up (as it were) with some leca or bark.

2. Don’t use anything that contains manure or compost. Your plants will love it but you’ll have gnats for days.

I have various articles on soil that I shall link below:

• This is how often you should change houseplant soil

• How to aerate houseplant soil

• How to recharge potting soil

I hope this email has eased your mind if you’re someone that worries that their potting soil is optimal. As long as your plant is getting the right amount of oxygen and water to its roots it genuinely doesn’t care what substrate it’s in.

If your plant is drying out too quickly, use a denser mix (you can add coir or worm castings to the existing mix).

If your plant stays wet for too long, use a chunkier mix (add leca, perlite, or orchid bark).

What are we all up to this week? I have two things going on:

1. A trip to York today to hit up the garden centres

2. I bought some sticky-back plastic (it’s pink marble, because I’m a millennial) and I’m going to try to pretty up some of my nursery pots. If anyone has any tips on how to measure the area of the outside of a plant pot I’m all ears.

Have a good one!